Taking Happiness and Suffering Along the Path

Cascading Waterfall of Nectar
Homage to the Guru! I make offerings to the peerless Guru, the torch on the Path of liberation Visualized upon my head inseparable from the Victorious One born from the elake. Bless us so that myself and the disciples in my lineage May find the excellent,

unmistaken path! I shall give you here a little encouragement to practice the supreme Dharma earnestly,
and will do so in three steps, the first of which Concerns the way to attend a spiritual master.

–
1 -Whoever aspires to free himself from the dungeon of samsaric ignorance, Must first of all rely upon a spiritual teacher. To start with, you should be wise in searching for a teacher. In the middle, you should care for him as for you own life through the three ways of pleasing him, and at the end, you should recieve his wisdom mind, like a vase being filled to the brim.

Without relying upon a spiritual teacher, there would be no Buddhas throughout the three times,
Without being cared for by him, one will never gain liberation, Whoever is under his care will reach the land of everlasting bliss.
The Guru is the source of an ocean of siddhis. therefore, be earnest in relying upon him in the right manner.
2 -I shall now explain a little the basic mind training. the city of liberation is like a great Jewel Island,
The samsara of the three worlds is like a boundless ocean the one who aspires to freedom is like a strong horse,
The guide, the Guru, is like a good captain,
The human body blessed with freedom and endowments is like a precious ship.
Having considered the causes, similes, and numerical comparisons,
If you do not extract now the essence of this human life,
How can you expect to gain such freedom again?
Therefore, be earnest in extracting the essence of your freedoms and endowments.
– 3 –
Death and impermanence make one feel like a butterlamp in the wind:
The messenger of the Lord of Death is swifter than lightning,
If you do not mount the horse of fierce endeavor,
How will you ever reach the far side of samsara?
Be earnest in having no ordinary needs whatsoever.
– 4 –
The unfailing karmic laws of cause and effect are similar to the sowing of seeds.
If you fail to distinguish minutely what should be done and what should be avoided
Regarding positive and negative actions, whether gross or subtle,
How will you ever harvest the crop of virtue?
Therefore, remembering cause and effect be earnest in the actions you do or avoid.
– 5 –
The three worlds of samsara are like a continent of ogressses,
Deceptively attractive in the guise of a beauty:
If you don’t drastically sever the ties of attachments,
How will you ever reach the other shore of the ocean of existence?
Therefore, be earnest in casting off craving deep from within.
– 6 –
The preparation for all virtuous Dharmas is taking reguge.
If you dont lay the foundation of all vows,
You will be like a child endlessly building sand castles.
How will you ever obtain the excellent, everlasting mansion?
Therefore, be earnest in observing the precepts of the refuge vow, the root of all.
– 7 –
The great path trodden by all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
Is the enlightened mind of loving-kindness and compassion, as both pledge and practice:
If you don’t train in exchanging, or equating, yourself and others,
How will you ever open the treasure of altruism?
Therefore, be earnest in developing the enlightened attitude of the Great Vehicle.
– 8 –
The great and easy means to purify in this life the unwholesome deeds amassed over many eons
Is the special feature of the Mantrayana:
If you don’t apply the key points of the antidote of the four strengths,
How will you ever escape from the net of the two obscurations?
Therefore, be earnest in practicing the recitation and meditation upon Vajrasattva.
– 9 –
One calls Buddha he who guides the three worlds of existence,
As result of having accumulated merit and purified himself during many kalpas.
If someone as obscured as I am does not make the slightest effort,

How will he ever obtain the fruit of maturation and purification?
Therefore, be earnest in making mandala offerings, which bring about accumulation and purification.
– 10 –
If you lack confidence that you can dominate the experiences of the bardo,
Without securing, the method provided by the Skillful and Compassionate One for great sinners
To energetically achieve Buddhahood without meditating

How will you ever evade the tortuous defiles of the bardo of existence?
Therefore, be earnest in taking up the path of transference.
– 11 –
For the yogin endowed with confidence in the view and meditation,
All experiences act as a fan helping a fire to burn:
If you lack the supreme Dharma of the Pacification of Suffering,

How will you ever sever the bonds tied by the Four Demons
Therefore, at all times be earnest in the practice of “cutting through the ego.”
– 13 –
Someone with insufficient knowledge resembles a maimed person trying to climb a rock,
Someone who studies the scriptures for the sake of becoming a scholar
Is like a person who searches for lethal weapons.
In short, if you so not know your own tradition,

How will you, a blind person lost in the middle of a vast plain ever finde the path?
Therefore, be earnest in bringing your experience to its ultimate depth.
– 14 –
As sign of having learned, your pride must recede,
As sign of having meditated, your emotions must abate:

If there are no signs telling that you have merged the Dharma with your being,
How will a mere reflection of knowledge and meditation do any good?
Therefore, be earnest in taming your own being.
– 15 –
The spiritual tradition of the sutras and tantras is immensely vast,
Yet, there is no other way to exterminate the obscuring emotions, the three poisons:
At the root of all, if you do not subdue your own capricious mind,

How will you ever cut the taproot of samsara?
Therefore, be earnest in scrutinizing your own faults.

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